


Little Sister

by a_lee_pendragon



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-01-31
Packaged: 2018-01-10 16:32:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1161993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_lee_pendragon/pseuds/a_lee_pendragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr user, <a href="http://screaming-till-im-numb.tumblr.com/post/73371192927/i-want-someone-to-write-a-book-where-mermaids-are">screaming-till-im-numb</a>, posted this comment: <i>"I want someone to write a book where Mermaids are the women thrown off ships when the sailors got afraid because having a woman on the boat is bad luck. And as they sink to the bottom legs tied together they change slowly until they can breathe, until they can use their tied up legs to swim. And they drown sailors in revenge, luring them in by singing in their husky voices still stinging from the salt water they breathed."</i></p>
<p>It's not an entire book, but I was certainly inspired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Sister

She stood shaking at the end of the plank, the ropes biting into her naked flesh. Behind her the men howled and cursed her. Men that she had loyally served beneath the mast with. Men whom she had foolishly believed were her friends.

The wild wind tugged at her hair, grown long again since that day nearly a year ago when she’d cut it off to play the part of a cabin boy. It flew loose now, torn from the confining braid, and tossed about and tangled, just like the waves of the angry sea below. It was all she could do to keep her balance. Not that it would matter soon. She was only delaying the inevitable, for there would be no begging her place back among them. No mercy. No compassion.

Idiot, superstitious men. She had not caused the storms, and until recently the ship had sailed with fair winds and rolling seas. This was not her doing. She was no curse.

She inhaled the salt air, trying to calm herself, and ignoring as the captain read her list of ‘crimes’. She thought, no. No, if this was to be her fate, she would not let them throw her away. They would not rule her last moments. She would not weep or cringe or beg.

Eyes turned up to the pewter clouds, she breathed deeply, then with deliberate -if restricted and tiny- steps, she cast herself into the sea she so loved. Warm, Caribbean waters closed over her, and at first she held her breath, sinking into the gloom of the depths, but soon she burned with the need for air. She twisted, fought, felt the rope scrape and cling even tighter.

It wasn’t fair. All she had wanted was to sail. All she had loved was the sea, the salty air in her face, the bright sun kissing her skin a rich gold-bronze. She’d always done her job well, learned quickly, never complained of the hard work. It was worth it. It had been worth it, but she hated to leave it so soon, and for such a foolish reason as the silly fears of men.

Colored bursts of light danced behind her eyelids, and still she struggled to hold onto her life just a little longer. Her ears ached from the pressure, her chest on fire. Everything hurt, and she could no longer stop herself. With a great gasp water filled her mouth, her nose, her lungs. It hurt. The salt seared her throat, and she coughed, bubbles tickling up her face. She convulsed, writhed, reached for her face in some last, desperate bid to cover her mouth and nose, and-

Her hands. They were free.

_She_ was free!

She wasn’t drowning either. She could swim.

It was… different, but effective, and before she knew it, there was the surface, the roiling dark sky over the roiling black sea. She rode the waves easily, and laid back to see her legs, but they were no longer legs. A great fanned tail splashed, her scales glittering even in the dim light, and then between her fingers too, the webs were more pronounced.

Curious, she dove beneath the surface. It took effort, and she had to convince herself to try, but then she inhaled, and it was water that entered her lungs, flowed through her, and gave her life. Back above, and she could breathe the air again.

“Greetings, little sister,” a husky voice said.

She turned, surprised to see a woman. No. A _mermaid_!

Just like her.

Speaking did not work the first try, nor the second or third, but the mermaid waited patiently.

“Hello.” Her voice was roughened, lower, and she touched her aching throat.

“It will heal soon enough, but your voice is forever changed.”

She nodded her understanding. “How did this happen to me? Why?”

The mermaid smiled. “Because you love the sea, and the sea loves you.” She dove and resurfaced a little farther away, beckoning. “Come. We have many sisters, and on stormy nights like this, we sing.”

“Will the sailors not hear us?” She knew her own ship was not so far away. Looking, she could even see the sails.

The mermaid smiled, showing pointed eyeteeth that looked more like fangs. “Why yes, they will.”


End file.
